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Topic: Uniform: Can I get some opinions? (Read 750 times)

I'm about to commission my next cover, using the same fantastic artist as before, and I need to give her an idea for the uniform of a royal guard in my space opera. I've found images of a few designs I like, though the in-universe uniform is mostly red, with the buttons and [I don't what word to use; brim, margins, embossing? the white things on the bottom picture] in gold.

I own (and have frequently worn) a jacket very much like the bottom image, only red instead of silver. Have to say, they look very good. particularly if you can get a fauld, or wear a cape/cloak under them to carry the theme to the legs.

from a practical standpoint, their great as ceremonial uniforms, but I wouldn't to be wearing them in a fight. (Unless they're made of some high-tech weave rather than fabric).

Change, when it comes, will step lightly before it kicks like thunder. (GRMatthews)You are being naive if you think that any sweet and light theme cannot be strangled and force fed it's own flesh. (Nora)

Liked No 1 best of all, but also No 2, glad you are not going for red it is used so often, but I know it is popular as eye catching on covers. Maybe a touch of red on any headgear instead?

Some words for you :Braiding* for decorative strips sewn on as stripes or making pattern.Edging for thin contrast colour/material sewn around collars lapels, end of sleeves.If fastened w decorative patterns or loops and material knots, as opposed to loops and buttons can be referred to as ' Frogging'. Suggest you check all these terms w google images as am on phone and can't give you pics.

* Google Braiding on uniforms or you will get a zillion hairstyles

« Last Edit: October 13, 2017, 12:23:27 AM by Lady Ty »

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'..all tapes left in a car for more than a fortnight metamorphose into Best of Queen albums....they listened to William Byrd's "We Are the Champions"" and Beethoven's "I Want to Break Free". Neither were as good as Vaughan Williams "Fat-Bottomed Girls".Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman: Good Omens 1990

Did just get to google images and have corrected a bit above re Braiding.

ETA got that wrong, but early in my day,

« Last Edit: October 13, 2017, 12:33:46 AM by Lady Ty »

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'..all tapes left in a car for more than a fortnight metamorphose into Best of Queen albums....they listened to William Byrd's "We Are the Champions"" and Beethoven's "I Want to Break Free". Neither were as good as Vaughan Williams "Fat-Bottomed Girls".Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman: Good Omens 1990

Beyond the look and impression of the uniform, there are symbols and references that date back a long, long time. I bring this up because it presents some opportunities to convey things about the society in which the military resides and the people who wear the uniforms. Austere uniforms speak to stoic, conservative societies, like Lucas' Empire.

Some (not all) uniform elements are indications of the person wearing them and contain clues for those who can read them, in addition to the obvious medals and hoops, etc. The bottom-most uniform, the black one with silver horizontal stripes is a marching band uniform, but the diagonal embroidery on the ends of the sleeves is a reference to a military uniform feature. Traditionally, each is worth two or three years of service. Mine has 7, so what is an almost overlooked feature on a young man's coat is a prominent one on a more senior person's.

Uniforms are symbols and conveyers of information to those who know how to interpret them. Civilians have to ask what this medal or that patch mean, and cannot usually tell which ones were for heroism and which were for longevity (both the eye-rolling connotation and the "I cannot believe you lived through that" connotation). That gap can be exploited to convey things about characters; and the uniform can be an obvious and useful way of discriminating between the high and the low, the gaudy and the relentlessly functional.

Colors are important and carry symbolic significance, both independently and in comparison. In Star Wars, the Emperor's red guards are most significant because they ARE red, the only real color in the entire Empire - Jedi included.

The Gem Cutter"Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There's always the possibility of a fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss." - Joseph Campbell

Colors are important and carry symbolic significance, both independently and in comparison. In Star Wars, the Emperor's red guards are most significant because they ARE red, the only real color in the entire Empire - Jedi included.

Yeah. Gold is the royal colour in my setting; as in, only the royal family and those who answer directly to it are allowed to wear it. Hence why the uniform has some gold, but is predominantly another colour.